NEW YORK (AP) — Gunnar Henderson had three of Baltimore's 12 hits in the first four innings, and the Orioles again prevented the New York Yankees from clinching the AL East title by holding on for a 9-7 victory Wednesday night despite another home run from Aaron Judge. Colton Cowser drove in three runs for the playoff-bound Orioles, who tagged substitute starter Marcus Stroman (10-9) early and improved to 8-4 against New York with one matchup left in their season series. Judge went deep for the fourth game in a row, connecting on his major league-leading 57th homer in a four-run ninth inning.
The three-run shot off Matt Bowman upped Judge's total to 142 RBIs, also most in the majors, and shaved New York's deficit to 9-7. Keegan Akin entered and retired the next two batters for his third career save and first this year. Juan Soto also homered and knocked in three runs for New York, which could have wrapped up the AL East race with a victory over the Orioles either of the past two nights.
Anthony Volpe had an RBI single. Baltimore moved within four games of the Yankees in the division standings with four remaining. Cedric Mullins went 3 for 4 with a walk, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
Assured at least an American League wild card, the second-place Orioles secured their second consecutive trip to the postseason Tuesday night when their 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium was paired with Minnesota's loss to Miami nine minutes later. Baltimore enjoyed a booze-filled bash in the .
